Onondaga County man, convicted eight times for DWI, charged again with drunk driving

Dick Blume / The Post-StandardDean S. Tuszynski was charged with drunk driving after a hit-and-run crash in Van Buren Wednesday. He has been convicted eight times of felony DWI.

Syracuse, NY - An Onondaga County man convicted eight times on felony DWI charges is back in custody after being arrested on a new DWI charge Wednesday following a hit-run crash in Van Buren.

Dean S. Tuszynski, 51, of 200 Cleveland Ave., Liverpool, is being held in the Justice Center Jail on $100,000 bail.

Earlier this year, the District Attorney’s Office had been looking to have Tuszynski jailed for life as a persistent felony offender because of his lengthy record of drunken-driving convictions. Onondaga County Judge Anthony Aloi refused because a federal court had struck down as unconstitutional New York’s version of the three-strikes law.

“History says he will drink and drive again,” Senior Assistant District Attorney Christopher Bednarski predicted June 8 at Tuszynski’s last appearance before Aloi. The prosecutor said he didn’t think prison had done anything to rehabilitate Tuszynski.

Aloi, however, said Tuszynski had already served almost the maximum amount of prison time allowed by law and had received excellent ratings in prison for attending substance abuse programs.

Tuszynski was before Aloi that day for sentencing in a couple of fender-bender crashes from 2005 where his prior sentence of 2 2/3 to eight years in state prison had been ruled illegal by a state appeals court.

New York State Department of Correctional Services documents show Tuszynski was released from state prison July 15 in that case.

Liverpool police reported Tuszynski was arrested about 12:30 p.m. Wednesday on Iroquois Lane in the village. Authorities said the vehicle Tuszynski was driving was seen crossing the center lane on the street and was being sought by state police in connection with a minor hit-run accident that had occurred a short time earlier in the town of Van Buren. There were no injuries in Wednesday's crash.

Liverpool police charged Tuszynski with DWI, first-degree aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, failure to keep right, unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, refusal to submit to an alcohol breath test and consuming an alcoholic beverage in a motor vehicle.

Liverpool police said the vehicle Tuszynski was driving is registered to his mother, Jeanne Tuszynski, with whom he resides. She is not facing any charges because someone other than her son was driving the car when she last saw him, officials said.

State police charged Tuszynski with leaving the scene of an accident and reckless driving.

He’s also facing a parole violation.

Bednarski today said it’s too early to tell what stance his office will take with respect to any new prosecution of Tuszynski. The prosecutor said he had not yet seen all the police reports about the new incident and arrest.

“Let me just say I’m glad nobody was hurt,” Bednarski added.

Aloi could not be reached for comment.

Authorities have said Tuszynski has one of the worst drunken-driving records in Onondaga County history.

While rejecting the prosecution call to use the state’s three-strikes law against Tuszynski earlier this year, Aloi said the case showed the need for state lawmakers to increase the penalties for repeat DWI offenders.

Tuszynski had pleaded guilty in 2006 to two DWI counts in crashes that occurred moments apart on Cold Springs Road in Salina and John Glenn Boulevard in Geddes in October 2005. Tuszynski originally was sentenced to two consecutive penalties of 1 ½ to four years in prison.

Authorities said at that time that Tuszynski had seven prior felony DWI convictions and that case was the ninth time he’d been incarcerated.

The state Supreme Court Appellate Division in Rochester ruled in December 2008 that that sentence was illegal because the two crashes were part of one single, continuous act. The appellate court concluded the sentences could not be consecutive.

The District Attorney’s Office moved to start the prosecution of Tuszynski all over again, informing Aloi the prosecution would seek to have Tuszynski sentenced to serve up to life in prison as a persistent violent offender.

But Aloi said he did not think life in prison was appropriate for a Class E felony DWI charge. He also noted such a sentence would appear to be vindictive and end up being thrown out on appeal.

Additionally, Aloi noted a federal appeals court ruled this past March that New York’s persistent felony offender statute was unconstitutional because it improperly allowed judges and not juries to consider factors such as a prior record toward enhancing a defendant’s penalty.

Aloi let Tuszynski plead guilty in May to three DWI counts in the 2005 case. He then sentenced the defendant June 8 to 1 1/3 to four years – as directed by the appellate court - to be covered by the almost five years Tuszynski had already served before the original sentence was declared illegal.

Although Tuszynski had been released from jail while the 2005 case was being relitigated, the sentence Aloi imposed in June required the defendant to be taken back into custody for several weeks before being released again.